Change was a hot topic this election, but we all need to remember the millions of animals whose lives will stay the same even though the election is over—unless we all do a lot of hard work. Breeders and pet shops will continue to contribute to the tragedy of dog and cat overpopulation—just to make a profit. We need to work hard to make spaying and neutering affordable and legally mandated in every community across the country. Although the election is over, let's remember to keep fighting the good fight! We must educate others about the importance of spaying and neutering their animal companions and adopting from shelters instead of buying from breeders and pet stores. If we all pitch in, then eventually the tragic but merciful euthanasia of animals for whom no suitable, loving homes exist will no longer be necessary.

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It's with a proud and ecstatic heart that I report this news today! Our investigation into an Iowa pig farm that breeds piglets destined for Hormel has resulted in 22—that's right, count them—22 criminal charges.

The Greene County Sheriff just announced in a news release that six individuals employed by the farm at the time of PETA's investigation now face a total of 22 counts of livestock neglect and abuse. Those charged include a former farm manager—who we understand still works on another pig factory farm—and a supervisor, as well as two individuals who still punch the clock at the Iowa factory farm as we speak.

A whopping 14 of the counts are aggravated misdemeanors—the stiffest possible charges under Iowa state law for crimes committed against farmed animals—carrying up to two years behind bars. To PETA's knowledge, this is unprecedented.

Charges based on PETA's undercover investigations are now pending against pig factory farmers in both Iowa—the nation's top pig-raising state—and North Carolina, which occupies the second rung on that dubious list!

This is a small victory for farmed animals, but we mustn't forget that Hormel, which financially supports this farm, has by all appearances yet to make any changes as a result of this investigation. It has refused to meet with us or even watch all of the footage, which we have repeatedly offered to show the company. Maybe now that the law has spoken up, Hormel will finally listen.

Please, urge Hormel to take action now.

Written by Christine Doré

Raccoon Dog Pups
kathyannepippig / CC

I don't know about you, but before last year, all I knew about melamine was that it was used to make a hard resin for shatter-resistant kitchenware and floor laminates. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous companies in China found another use for it—adding it to foods to make them appear to have higher protein content. This resulted in the illness and deaths of dogs and cats in the U.S. and Europe, and, more recently, of humans (mostly children) in China.

Now comes word that melamine contamination appears to be responsible for killing 1,500 Chinese raccoon dogs. As horrible as it is to die from melamine poisoning, the alternative isn't much better for these animals, because raccoon dogs in China are commonly raised and skinned alive for their fur.

Either way, the responsibility for these horrible deaths falls squarely on the shoulders of those who support this cruelty by buying fur. If the raccoon dogs had been left alone in their native habitats, they wouldn't be eating an artificial, contaminated diet—and they certainly wouldn't face having their skin ripped off their bodies while they are conscious and in agony.

So, as the weather turns colder, if you see any fur-wearers, be sure to ask them if they prefer that the money they spent for that coat, collar, or cuff caused animals to die in agony from toxic kidney failure, or like this:

Written by Jeff Mackey

sheep101 / CC

Yesterday, PETA sent a letter to the Australian wool industry on behalf of numerous major clothing retailers—including Gap, Liz Claiborne, Nordstrom, Haggar Clothing, Coppley Apparel, Austin Reed, Carter's, C&A Europe, Bestseller A/S, and Matalan Retail Limited—encouraging the addition of a "clip mulesing" tick box to the industry's new nonmulesed-certification form.

In addition, Nike, Lindex, Marks & Spencer, and H&M sent their own letters urging the industry to add clip mulesing to the certification.

So, what is this tick box, and why is it important? Well, the wool industry has made a certification form to allow retailers to purchase wool from lambs who haven't undergone the mulesing mutilation. (Yay!) But under the current certification, if a retailer also doesn't want wool from lambs who have undergone clip mulesing—where their skin is painfully killed using tight clamps—they can't get it. (Boo!)

So PETA flexed a little muscle and got 15 major clothing retailers, whose sales total more than AUD $100 billion (yes, that's "billion" with a "B"), to send a strong message to the wool industry that they oppose clip mulesing and want to avoid mulesing of any kind in their supply chains.

Of these companies, one—Nordstrom—stands out. Nordstrom was ready to pilot the certification program for all its own-label 2009 men's merino wool sweaters. After figuring out that the industry couldn't guarantee that no clip mulesing was used for the sweaters, Nordstrom backed out of the program. But then it went even one step further and decided to source all that wool from outside Australia instead!

Kudos to Nordstrom and these 14 other retailers for helping send the strong message that clip mulesing is not acceptable and that real alternatives to mulesing must be put in place.

The world is watching, Australia ….

Written by Matt Prescott, PETA Corporate Affairs

askmen / CC

The latest edition of Curve Magazine features the gorgeous Mia Kirshner in something that looks suspiciously furry. But fear not! For no, that's not a fox carcass strewn across her lovely shoulders; it's merely a convincing imposter. Thankfully, both Mia (aka Jenny Schector of HBO's The L Word) and the editors of Curve are staunchly anti-fur and would never stand for such a gruesome abuse of fashion. Since the magazine began 18 years ago, it's actually had an anti-fur policy (a policy? Could it be any more fly?!), and it also regularly contributes to PETA. Holla!

Mia, who is promoting her new book, I Live Here, actually posed for the photos ages ago. In the article, Mia says that she regrets wearing something that even looks like fur and would never be caught dead wearing something so realistic again. Bless her sexy self! She even tried to have the image pulled, but it had already been sent to press. Brilliantly, the opportunity to help more animals through this embarrassing little mishap was not lost.

To make sure there's no mistake about its cruelty-free stance, Curve placed a bold disclaimer on the cover declaring, "This is definitely FAKE fur!" Then, seizing the opportunity to educate readers about why fur is so disgusting, there's a very impressive letter from the editor that does all animal defenders proud!

A portion of the letter reads, "Why should you care? Even if you're a carnivore, you probably would be shocked at the torture and cruelty that goes into creating real fur, from the tiny cages to the horrid electrocutions. Don't believe me? Check out furisdead.com. You only had to look at last summer's headlines—in which it was revealed some manufacturers had actually used dog and cat hair as fur—to see how dead it is."

Whew! They took the words right out of our mouths!

Written by Missy Lane

According to Science News magazine, researchers have discovered the first known vegetarian spider in Mexico. A jumping spider who dwells and dines in acacia trees, Bagheera kiplingi (Kip, to his friends) is a fly guy who passes on the usual bug buffet for leafy snacks snatched from neighboring ants. That's right—Kip is an itsy-bitsy pickpocket. Athletic, thanks no doubt to their healthy vegetarian diet, these covert little arachnids give patrolling ant guards the slip and then swoop down and steal their supply of protein and fat-packed nubbins sprouting from the tips of leaves.

An eight-legged vegetarian renegade taking on an army to nick some nubbins. Neat, huh? Actually, all spiders are pretty darn neat. They're also much more frightened of us than we are of them—and for good reason! Even on the rare occasions when spiders may try to bite to defend themselves, only a few can actually pierce human skin.

So what have we learned? Spiders are cool and deserve respect. Some vegetarians have eight legs. And when picnicking under an acacia tree in Mexico, never ever take your eyes off your salad. That said, here's Kip, my personal pick for the "Cutest Vegetarian Alive":

Written by Amy Elizabeth

Here's what Jeff says about this week's masterpiece: "The strip is based on the sad measures that officials have to take in order to protect rhinos from poachers. And a little depravity thrown in for good measure."

He also let me know that, in honor of Earth Week, he sprayed this strip with 50 percent less pesticides. Which was very noble of him, I thought. Anyway, this one's a zinger—enjoy!

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